Study: salt intake increases incidence of T2D and LADA, yet?

MaryPat
Tue, 19 Sep 2017 03:36:13 +0000
T2 Research

This interesting study from Karolinska Institute, a diabetes center of very good reputation, concludes that there is an association between high salt intake and the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes and of LADA.

At the same time, it is very strangely written, and I am not quite sure what to make of it.

The study is solid, and is a retrospective study based on a questionnaire. It finds a strong association between each 2.5 grams of salt consumed daily and (a) a 43% increased incidence of Type 2 Diabetes; and (b) a 73% increased incidence of LADA. In fact, genotypes at high risk of LADA were FOUR times more likely to develop LADA if they consumed a "high " amount of salt (more than 8 grams per day), a shocking increase in risk.

This is where it becomes weird. The study concludes:

“We confirm an association between sodium intake and type 2 diabetes”

(that’s strong) and

“high sodium intake may be a risk factor for LADA, especially in carriers of high risk HLA genotypes.”

What the ??? They find a much higher risk factor for LADA, and a 4x increase in risk of LADA (!!!) for those consuming high amounts of sodium, but their conclusion is much stronger for Type 2 diabetes???

What do you make of this?

My suspicion: they are being influenced by the perception that T2 is a lifestyle issue (so they don’t doubt a lifestyle link here) while LADA is genetic (so they doubt the lifestyle link there).

Here is the ScienceDaily review btw:

ScienceDaily

Sodium (salt) intake is associated with a risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Sodium intake may be linked to an increased risk of developing both type 2 diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults says new research.

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